Abstract:Litter plays an important role in runoff interception. It is of great significance to investigate the litter production dynamics and water holding capability to understand the primary productivity and its functions in soil and water conservation, several kinds of plants (Robinia psendoacacia, Pinus tabulaeformis, Hippophae rhamnoides, Sophora viciifolia, Artemisia sacrorum and Bothriochloa ischaemum) were selected to monitor the litter production and water holding capability by month for one year in the loess hilly region. The annual volume of litter production, composition and monthly dynamics of different vegetation types were compared including the water holding capacity of litter and impact factors. Results showed that:(1) The total amount of the litter production of six plant types ranged from70.65 to 455.57 g/m2, defoliation accounted for 48.17% to 91.09% of the total litter. The amount of litter production per month was 1.86 to 160.21 g/m2 which can be divided into unimodal, bimodal or irregular modes of the annual dynamic. (2) There was an extremely significant logarithmic relationship between the water holding capacity of litter and the soaking time (P < 0.01). The water absorption rate of litter reached the maximum in the initial stage of soaking. Maximum water holding capacity of litter organs after being soaked for 72 hours ranged from 1.20 to 4.35 g/g. When the litter organs were being immersed in water for 5 min, 24 h and 48 h, their water holding capacity reached 48.41%, 93.96% and 97.70%. The maximum water holding capacity of the litter by month ranged from 1.19 to 3.95 g/g. (3) The interception of litter fall of six plant species in the whole year ranged from 1.33 to 13.33 t/hm2, Defoliation accounted for 57.19% to 86.12% of the interception of the litter in the whole year. In conclusion,we concluded that defoliation accounted for the largest proportion of litter and made the greatest contribution to the interception of litter. Density has a significant effect on the water holding capacity of litter(P < 0.01), the differences in specific surface area and void spaces result in different water holding capacity of litter fall. Vegetation affect the soil and water conservation of litter in the plant samples by affecting its litter production. This study will provide the theoretical basis for evaluating the soil and water conservation function of litter in different vegetation restoration models on the Loess Plateau.